MILITARY GUARDIANSHIP ISSUE NOW ON THE TABLE BY ALI
BAYRAMOGLU (YENI SAFAK)
The European
Union Parliament yesterday approved a report on Turkey as prepared and later
revised by Dutch parliamentarian Arie Oostlander. The report says that if the
Justice and Development Party (AKP) government determinedly continues its
structural reforms, then Turkey might begin membership negotiations at the end
of next year, adding that recent reforms passed by Parliament were welcome, but
that they must be actually implemented. The AKP government has a great
responsibility to carry out these reforms, stated the report. The EU is due to
review Turkey’s accession progress in December 2004.Turkey’s Muslim population
is not an obstacle to its EU bid, the report argued, but it also charged that
the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) role in politics was holding back the nation’s
full democratization. Addressing the Cyprus issue, the report contended that a
resolution on the island was a fundamental prerequisite for Turkey’s EU bid.
/Aksam/
The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is the leader
of Turkey’s modernization process, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
reportedly told a key European Union figure in Ankara yesterday. During a
meeting with Erdogan, European Commissioner Representation in Turkey head
Hansjoerg Kretschemer reportedly said that Turkey needed to move to a more
typically European political structure, in particular one with less military
influence. Erdogan then replied that Turkey’s harmonization with EU values was
not an easy task, but that despite some disagreements, the government had a firm
resolve to see through Ankara’s EU bid. The TSK is the leader of Turkey’s
modernization process, he reportedly stated, adding that though the government-military
National Security Council (NSC) had discussed EU harmonization, the final say on
the issue belonged to Parliament. /Milliyet/
After completing his contacts in Madrid, Spain as part of the NATO foreign
ministers spring meetings, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday returned to
Ankara. Speaking to reporters at Esenboga Airport, Gul said that the authority
on the matter of Turkey’s European Union harmonization laws rested with
Parliament. He said that important issues were discussed during National
Security Council (NSC) meetings, and that the council only makes recommendations
to the government, adding, “There is no need to get the council’s permission on
all matters. After completing work on it, the government will send the sixth
harmonization package to Parliament for debate.” On the recent situation in Iraq,
Gul stated that there were many things left to do in the country, calling these
“no easy task.” Regarding Poland’s expected command of a peacekeeping force in
Iraq, Gul said that this country didn’t know the region well and so would need
Turkey’s help. “We are discussing this matter with Polish officials,” he added.
“We are giving them the benefit of our knowledge and experience.” Stating that
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal was set to visit the US next week,
Gul said that for the time being he himself had no plans to do the same. /Turkiye/
Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan is reportedly writing a letter to US President George W. Bush to
be delivered by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal during his visit to
the country next week. Yesterday, Erdogan met with Ziyal to discuss Turkish-US
relations and Ziyal’s upcoming trip to Washington. In his letter, Erdogan is
expected to evaluate recent developments in bilateral relations and to urge
improvement in these relations in the days to come. During his visit, Ziyal is
set to meet with Marc Grossman, current deputy secretary of state and former US
ambassador to Ankara, as well as several congressmen. /Turkiye/
Professor Muhammad Yunus, a banker from Bangladesh and ambassador for the United
Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), is due in Turkey on Monday to promote his
signature poverty reduction initiative, “micro-credit” loans to the rural poor.
Yunus is set to meet with Turkish official and deliver a speech at a conference
in Diyarbakir, speaking on how the government and international community can
cooperate to fight poverty. In 1983 Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, a “village
bank” which has lent out over $2 billion in small-scale loans to the rural poor.
The Grameen Bank has focused on Yunus’ native country, but he plans to start a
pilot program for Turkey in Diyarbakir, one of the country’s less-developed
provinces. /Turkiye/
A Turkish Industrialists’ and
Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) delegation chaired by Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan
yesterday traveled to Athens to attend a meeting of the Union of Industrial and
Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE). UNICE, which bills itself as “the
voice of European business,” is to hold a summit in the Greek capital today with
an eye towards the June 29 EU summit in Salonica. UNICE is expected to make a
number of decisions on business issues to be conveyed to the European heads of
state. The summit will be the last under Athens’ current EU term presidency.
/Sabah/
Turkey's powerful generals are living through anxious
times, distrustful of a government with Islamist roots and wary of its planned
liberal reforms to open the gates of the EU, claimed a Reuters news agency
report yesterday. “The ‘Pashas’ [generals] clearly see in some reforms a
potential weapon to subvert the state and weaken their role as guardian against
separatism and Islamism,” wrote Reuters correspondent Ralph Boulton. “That role
is already under unprecedented scrutiny at home and by an EU demanding strict
subordination of military to civilians.” In his news analysis, Boulton quoted
one Turkish diplomat as saying, “The army is at a turning point. They certainly
don't want to be portrayed as obstacles on the path to the EU. But at the same
time it deeply disturbs them that the reforms are being championed by this of
all governments.” Boulton also added that the military commanders had accused EU
countries of aiding the terrorist group PKK-KADEK by failing to completely
outlaw it on the continent. /Sabah/
Prominent
Turkish businessmen organizations led by the Economic Development Foundation (IKV)
yesterday issued a statement expressing their support for the AKP government’s
latest reform package. The groups stressed that the AKP government’s sixth
European Union harmonization reform package and all other efforts to improve
Turkey’s democracy needed everybody’s support. The businessmen also called on
the government to take all necessary steps as soon as possible to fulfill the
EU’s political and economic criteria. /Sabah/
Education
Minister Huseyin Celik signed a protocol yesterday with Turkey’s UNICEF
representative Edmund McLoughney on a joint campaign to promote girls’ education
in 10 rural provinces. The campaign, aimed at school-age girls in provinces
where schools are few and far between, is designed to narrow the educational
gender gap with the slogan “Let’s go to school, girls!” along with other
measures. Many studies have shown a correlation between better education for
girls and higher living standards for women. /Cumhuriyet/
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turkey’s lack of involvement in recent
international developments. A summary of his column is as follows:
“It is
commonly believed in many quarters that Turkey has been excluded from certain
recent important international developments. For the media, these include:
Last weekend’s G-8 summit in Evian, France * The new Middle East peace process,
started with US President George W. Bush’s initiative in Jordan 1. Efforts for
establishing a new political and economic structure in postwar Iraq and the
planned multinational peacekeeping force
The media and certain politicians
are asking why Turkey hasn’t been present at these meetings and initiatives
while many other countries, in contrast, have participated.
First of all,
Turkey needn’t develop an inferiority complex just because it wasn’t invited to
certain meetings. In addition, the importance and standing of a country on the
international stage doesn’t depend on its appearance at this or that activity.
Let’s re-consider the above list.
The G-8 summit was held with French
President Jacques Chirac’s initiative and with the participation of 13 countries
plus four international institutions from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Some
of the guest countries were truly undeveloped, such as Senegal and Nigeria. Of
course Turkey doesn’t fall in this category. Some of the issues discussed at the
summit directly interested other guest countries such as China and India. Greece
attended the meeting in its capacity as the European Union’s term president. So
concluding from our not being invited that the West doesn’t want us and so is
excluding us is both mistaken and humiliating.
The same thing can be said
for the peace initiative in the Middle East. The ‘road map’ is a plan prepared
months ago by the Bush administration along with the EU, the United Nations and
Russia. Bush tried to impose this plan first on Arab leaders and then on
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Of course at this stage, Turkey can’t really help with it, but then it might be
able to make contributions later. Thus, there is no need to feel that Turkey was
excluded.
As for the Iraq issue, it’s a fact that for the time being the
US is keeping Turkey at a distance from developments here. This is the result of
the deep injury in Turkish-US relations caused by Ankara’s stance during the
Iraq war. As we ask why we aren’t at the table, we should re-examine our Iraq
policies and work on getting a future place at the table. Our participation in
key international developments depends on our producing new and smarter policies.”
Columnist Ali Bayramoglu comments on the Turkish military’s role in politics. A
summary of his column is as follows:
“Yesterday the European Parliament
approved a report on Turkey which will surely have considerable influence on the
country’s future path to European Union accession. The report opened a new
chapter in Turkish-EU relations and the country’s pledge to pass necessary
reforms for membership in the Union. And we once again witnessed that the bulk
of the issue, for the EU, too, lies in Turkey’s worst chronic problem: The
‘military’s guardianship’ over our nation’s democracy, political parties and
political life.
It is quite natural for the EU to voice such
considerations as Turkey draws closer to the Union threshold, and time runs out
for us to comply with its criteria. Nevertheless, this report constituted a
first. The EU has so far refrained from addressing the military issue head-on
out of awareness of Turkey’s sensitivities on the matter. But as we see now, the
military guardianship issue has effectively become a part of the criteria and
the EU’s agenda with Turkey.
Here’s what the report said:
The
country’s military establishment has an overwhelming influence over the state
and society, and it constitutes a barrier to Turkey’s future progress in
strengthening its democratic, pluralist system. 3. The National Security Council
(NSC) must be abolished in the long term, or its structure and function in the
state mechanism must be changed. Military representatives must withdraw from
institutions such as the Higher Board of Education (YOK) and the Supreme Board
of Radio and Television (RTUK) in order to provide them with real autonomy.
Moreover, it is very likely that the EU will later raise such issues as the
status of the General Staff and military expenditures and decisions.
We
have been discussing the military issue in Turkey for many years now.
Significant intellectual and political struggles to eliminate the military
guardianship over the country’s civilian politics have their roots in rejection
of the military influence. As a matter of fact, no democratic standard,
including the EU criteria, can co-exist with the military guardianship mentality.
It is clear that there is a negative correlation between this mentality,
rationalized by a ‘national security’ discourse, and a country’s level of
plurality and maturity of political culture. For years, the architects of this
mentality have tried to affirm and legitimize the institutions and practices of
the military guardianship by directly citing the country’s ‘special conditions.’
We are at a point now where we either have to recognize that these ‘special
conditions’ are actually imaginary ones which have pushed Turkey off the
democratic path or we will turn them into real ones, which, in the end, would
result in further deterioration of our democracy.
It is much clearer now
why the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had certain anxieties about the European
Union. Future EU harmonization packages set to follow the current one are likely
to give raise to much more heated debates and sharp conflicts, should they
propose further reforms on the issue.”
